Mark Burns-Williamson, West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner
visited West Yorkshire Police's contact centre last week (05/02)
and met some of the dedicated people who answer emergency and
non-emergency telephone calls.

Everyone who rings 999 or 101 within West Yorkshire will get
through to one of the skilled and highly professional call handlers
who can quickly arrange for units to be deployed, take a crime or
intelligence report, offer advice and guidance to queries, or
direct calls the appropriate department or person.

The contact centre for West Yorkshire Police handles over 1.25
million calls per year with an average waiting time of less than 30
seconds currently.

The contact centre had seen an increase in caller waiting
periods for the non-emergency number at peak times last summer and
a number initiatives have been introduced to tackle this and
safeguard against future exceptionally busy periods. Although it is
important to note that the 999 emergency number service was never
really affected.

A crime tracker service was launched late last year which allows
victims of crime to securely make a report and track its progress.
Crime tracker offers an alternative option to calling the
non-emergency number 101 and is available on the homepage of West
Yorkshire Police's website: www.westyorkshire.police.uk/crimetracker

The crime tracker service should help to bring down call waiting
times for the 101 number while ensuring victims are supported and
kept up to date regarding their crime status.

Mr Burns-Williamson said "I have made five promises within my
Police and Crime Plan to victims and witnesses including ensuring
they get the high quality support and help they need, when they
need it, in the way they need it from the right agency.

"The contact centre and the services they offer do exactly that,
and I was very impressed with the dedication and professionalism of
the staff, as we can all appreciate, it must be an extremely
difficult job at times as the demand levels remain fairly
constant.

"We have a 97% plus rate of caller satisfaction here in West
Yorkshire and that is testament to the hard work of the call
handlers. I would personally like to offer my thanks to each member
of staff at the centre who help to keep our communities safe 24/7.
It was good to visit and talk to a number of the staff in person
and understand some of the issues they face when dealing with high
call volumes.

Tom Donohoe is the West Yorkshire Police Customer Contact Centre
Manager and added: "As a Force, we are leading the way in terms of
technological innovations and members of the public now have more
options than ever before to interact with us.

"This recognition from the Police and Crime Commissioner really
reflects the hard work that goes on behind the scenes to provide
the best possible service to the public and is very much
appreciated by staff in the unit."

"The Local Crime Tracker is proving to be an extremely useful
tool and builds upon the success we have already achieved through
the introduction of 'live chat', which allows you to communicate
directly with the police online.

The on-line services also benefit non-users by helping us to
control demand into the unit and reducing telephone queues"

"We continue to look for new and innovative ways to provide a
more efficient and effective service that meets the needs of our
communities."